100 (More) Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People by Susan Weinschenk

Isn’t it interesting if you can know 100 more design guidelines in about 10 minutes?

Learn to increase the effectiveness of your websites, applications, designs, and products by finding the answers to some of the questions like these:

1. How do you grab and hold a viewer’s attention in a video ad?
2. How much text on a screen do people actually read?
3. What one simple thing can you do to enhance the believability of your content?
4. When is it better NOT to give your audience choices?
5. Why does laughing enhance learning for kids?
6. Do certain fonts help people learn information better?
7. Where is the worst spot on a smart phone screen to place the frequently used controls?
8. What’s the best way for people to process big data?

These are just a few of the questions that Susan explores in this deep-dive exploration of what makes people tick.

Book Caption 100 Things Every Designer Needs To Know About People” by Susan Weinschenk

About the book

Weinschenk’s new book, 100 MORE Things Every Designer Needs To Know About People applies the latest research in psychology, neuroscience, brain research, and social psychology to the design of technology products, including websites, apps, wearables, and artificial intelligence. Weinschenk combines real science and research citations with practical examples to make her 100 MORE Things engaging, persuasive, easy to read, accessible, and useful.

100 MORE Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People is not just another “design guidelines” book because it explains the WHY behind the guidelines, providing concrete examples and prescriptions that can be easily and instantly applied.

You can check out the previous book ‘100 Things Every Designer Needs To Know About People” if you have already not read it.

Why this post?

While I have read just 40 things till date, I could not refrain myself from sharing this list. I am finding this useful and I hope you will find it useful too.

I am sure this list will generate enough curiosity in you to find out the WHY behind the guidelines.

100 more things every designer should know about people — Table of Content

Many thanks to the author ‘Susan Weinschenk’ for allowing me to share this list in public.

Hope you will find this list useful in order to be able to make a decision to buy this book (highly recommended).

The guidelines are divided into 11 section.

Section 1 — How People See

1. People prefer Curved Shapes
2. People prefer Symmetry
3. Some people have an extra Color Cone
4. Peripheral Vision determines where the central vision should look
5. Peripheral vision sees danger and processes emotion faster
6. Peripheral vision is like a low-resolution image
7. Emotion v/s Gaze Direction; Emotion Wins
8. Direct Gaze can backfire
9. People Decide about a design in a split of second

Section 2 : How People Think & Remember

1. People use two kinds of thinking
2. Some memories change easily
3. Repetition strengthens some Memories
4. Music Evokes Memories and Moods

Section 3 : How People Decide

1. People make decision with system 1 (Truthiness) thinking
2. People choose what’s brightest
3. When faced with a complex decision people follow their feelings
4. The pupils dilates during a difficult decision
5. Confidence triggers decision
6. The surprising effect of stress on decision making
7. People make decision at a certain calendar event
8. People make decision based on specific memories
9. Brain activity predicts decision before they are consciously made

Section 4 : How People Read & Interpret Information

1. If the text is hard to read, the material is easier to learn
2. Noun spur more action than Verbs spur action
3. Homophones can prime behaviour
4. People read only 60 percent of an online article
5. Online reading may not be reading
6. The multi-sensory experience of physical books is important to reading
7. People are ready to move on from “old” media

Section 5 : How People are Influenced by Stories

1. The brain is more active with stories
2. Dramatic Arc stories change brain chemicals
3. Stories focus attention
4. People’s self-stories affect their behaviour
5. Small steps can change self stories
6. A public commitment leads to stronger self-stories
7. Change the story and you will change the behaviour

Dr. Weinschenk really knows her stuff. I’ve been a fan since I started working as a UX designer/researcher about 15+ years ago. This series is SO easy to browse. Great insights and reminders for even seasoned practitioners, but if you’re new to user-centered design it’s still very easy to follow. I find myself going through her books again when I’m on a new project because it helps me generate ideas. In addition, I persuade clients to adopt better design practices based on the brain science referenced in her books. Thanks, Dr. Weinschenk!

Section 6 : How people relate to other people and to technology

1. Emotions are contagious
2. People don’t like Video Ads
3. Joy and Surprise grab and hold attention in video ads
4. Surprise, but not shock, encourages sharing
5. Oxytocin is the bonding chemical
6. When people feel connected, they work harder
7. Devices with alerts lower cognitive performance
8. Cell Phones nearby negatively affect person-to-person communication
9. People trust machines that have some human-like characteristics
10. People can feel empathy for machines

Curious to know these things details? Place an Order now

Section 7 : How Creativity Influences Design

1. Everyone can be creative
2. Creativity starts with the executive attention network
3. To be creative, engage the brain’s default network
4. Induce an ‘Aha’ moment
5. Daydreaming encourages creativity
6. Sleeping encourages creativity
7. Noise and Music increase creativity
8. People are more creative within some constraints
9. The right kind of collaboration increases creativity
10. Being a perfectionist can ruin creative work

Section 8 : How People’s bodies affect design

1. People think and feel with their bodies
2. People naturally gesture
3. People have physical limitation of movement
4. Thumb can reach only so far
5. Distance from the screen is critical

Section 9 : How People Shop and Buy

1. People don’t separate shopping online from shopping in a store
2. People spend less when they use cash
3. People commit to purchase because of cognitive dissonance
4. Cognitive dissonance makes people buy
5. People are affected by arbitrary numbers
6. Online Shopping increases anticipation

If you’re a designer or work with designers, you need to get this book and the previous one in the series.

Section 10 : How Generations, Geography and Gender Influence Design

1. Everyone uses Smartphones for News and important Life Events
2. Generational differences in smartphone use depend on the activity
3. If the task takes less than 5 minutes, people will use their smart phones
4. Not everyone with a cell phone has a smart phone
5. In many countries, Women lack online access
6. Gamers are all ages and all genders
7. What people find usually appealing depends on the Age, Gender and Geography
8. People want fewer choices as they get older
9. The mental model of ‘Online’ and ‘Offline’ is different for different generations
10. Over half of the people over age 65 in the US use the Internet
11. People over 40 have Presbyopia
12. The color blue fades with age
13. Nearly 100 million people over age 65 have hearing problem
14. Motor skills don’t decline until the mid-60s
15. Older people may not have answers to those security questions
16. As people age, they become less confident about their own memories
17. Generation Z will account for 40 percent of all consumers in 2020
18. More than one-third of one-year old can use a touch screen
19. When toddlers laugh, they learn more

Section 11 : How People Interact with Interfaces and Devices

1. People want to skim and scan videos
2. People interact with Carousel
3. People Scroll
4. People can’t even talk to the car while driving
5. People don’t always engage more when you’ve used ‘Gamification’
6. Games can improve perceptual learning
7. People need fewer choices
8. People want devices to monitor their health
9. People will increasingly have devices implanted to monitor and intervene in their health
10. People can control technology with their brains
11. People will adapt to multi-modal interfaces
12. People will embrace mixed reality
13. Over 645 million people have visual or auditory impairments
14. People process sensory data unconsciously

Liked the content of the book?

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